Day Six - The "Home Stretch"

Only 3 more days until Anita gets back! But all in all, today was a good Saturday. Allison woke up at 6 AM and so Ami and I got up then too. The boys slept until 8:00! For those of you who are wondering how late last night went, let's just say that I wouldn't recommend promising an "all-nighter" to 4 kids when you are responsible to look after them the next day. As we were watching the third movie, I fell asleep at about 10:30 PM. At 11:15 PM Bradley woke me up and said, "Hey dad, can you put on the next movie?" I looked at him and said, "I know I said we could stay up as late as we want, but I (meaning “we”) want to go to sleep and I think you guys need to as well." They all seemed to be wide awake, but surprisingly (apart from a couple "awww's") they said, "Okay, dad." I think that they were ready for sleep and didn't complain about not staying up last night, today.

You could see that they were tired today. Ami, especially -- she actually rested during rest time. Ben, on the other hand, showed his tiredness another way - by his lack of good judgment. He snuck into Ami's room to wake her up during rest time (for which he was disciplined). Since the kids were quite tired today, they all went to bed at 6:00 PM and Ben was the first one out. Ben has been doing quite well while mom has been away. I have especially enjoyed spending time with him this week in the mornings while Alli is sleeping and the other two have been at school.

Speaking of "home" and "stretch," Is it just me, or does it look like Bradley (our home "fixer-upper") has grown this week. Perhaps we should start calling him "stretch."

And since we are talking about stretchy things. Today, some of our neighbors helped me by watching the kids at their house for a few hours while I studied in the office. Their gardener, Jamu, found 8 little snake eggs (one is missing from the photo). The shells were actually rubbery and you could stretch them. Jamu cut one open and found a little baby snake inside. The kids liked touching them and looking at them - it was sort of like playing with gummy worms. I liked it that Jamu found the snakes BEFORE they hatched. Go Jamu!

Bourne Identity

I cannot believe the day has finally come. I was so excited and yes there were even tears shed during the National Anthem. It's taken about five years to get to this stage and that's without ever living in the U.S.A. The U.S. government also allows me to keep both my South African and Dutch passports and so I'm now "Bourne Identity".

Day Five - Celebration Day

So today is the big day. Anita becomes a U.S. citizen today. The kids also have a little celebration - five full days with daddy! Before Anita even left for the U.S., I told the kids that one of the nights when she is away, we will have "no bed time." I said we could stay up and watch movies until we fall asleep. The kids just looked at me with big smiles, but were kind of puzzled like "is it even possible to have a night without a bed time?" Our Friday night started out with all four kids watching a movie at 5:30 PM.
Part way through the movie, I pushed pause and we took a break for dinner (popcorn, hot dogs, mac 'n cheese, and carrot sticks). The kids then bathed and Allison went to bed - she wasn't really aware of the "all-nighter." Then the rest of the kids finished the movie. I moved the kids into a "bug hut" (a free standing mosquito net) since it is still malaria season.

We are now watching movie number 2. These kids are surprising me. I might have bitten off more than I can chew here. I thought they would be out by the end of the second movie, but all three are still with us (and Ami said she wanted to stay up until 1:00 AM!). I am not so concerned about these three falling asleep in the bug hut - it's Allison who will be up tomorrow morning at 5:30. Only four more days until Anita gets back. It's all down hill from here - right?

Day Four - Amazing Ami

I was talking to Anita on the phone tonight and I was telling her how amazed I am at Ami and the way she has really stepped up to be that helper that I wrote about a couple of days ago. I am sure Ami doesn't know how helpful she really is but knowing how "unhelpful" I was at that age, it really is quite ... amazing.

Yesterday the kids came up with a little game of building a house out of rocks.

I haven't been doing Ami's hair, although yesterday her teacher thought that I had done it because it kind of looked like something I could accomplish. She had 7 braids somewhat randomly done around her head. Ami had decided to do them herself before school. I thought it looked cute.

This morning I asked her if she would like me to do her hair and she was quite excited about it. I worked really hard to get that part down the middle and went for 2 braids instead of 7. It was a bit rainy on the way to school but I was able to snap this picture of her. The picture makes it look better than it was -- there is no way that I braid hair as well as Anita. But I think I could learn if it meant that Ami would know how grateful Anita and I are to God for blessing us with her.

Day Three - Swingin'

Well, we are more than surviving today. It seems like we have found ourselves swinging through the day in a little routine. We have a Malawian lady named Cecelia who is helping to look after the younger two while I am working and then all four in the afternoon. Besides the early morning wake-up times, I spend a couple hours with the kids at lunch and then from 4:30 PM until bed time. Some church friends have been helping out with meals as well - yay!

Today, Ben and I went to pick up Ami and Brad from school. They have this hut thing for the kids to play on and it has a rope on one of the corners. Bradley and some of his kindergarden cohorts figured that if they climb up on the railing of the stairs to the hut and swing off the railing they could have a better swing. I watched it a couple of times and then decided to video it with my phone. The falling down didn't seem to deter them. They just kept on climbing back up. I am not sure if they are allowed to do this, but hey - when mom is not around :)...

Day Two - Still Surviving

We are doing okay here while Anita is away, but I sure appreciate her a lot more. Mornings are tough! Benjamin is not so tough in the mornings. He is 3 - which means he prefers to get dressed all by himself and he doesn't need to go to school - so time is not really an issue.

Allison is also pretty easy in the mornings. She can feed herself and she likes cold cereal (even if it looks like cardboard in milk). I have to admit, though, yesterday was MUCH easier with her. This morning, she decided to take off her poopy diaper before she got out of bed. This means I had to bathe her and I think I should probably wash her sheets.

Speaking of laundry, each morning I am trying to get all the dirty clothes out into the hall way so that I can sort them and keep ahead of it. (Only 7 more days until Anita gets back - but who's counting?)

Bradley and Ami have to be at school by 7:10 AM. Yesterday, we couldn't find Bradley's belt (yes, Anita, the one you told me to make sure he doesn't lose because it was part of his "spy outfit" when he played "spy" on the weekend). Dad: "Bradley, where is your belt?" Bradley: "I don't know, dad?" Dad: "Think, my son, where did you have it last?" Ami: "Hmmmm, maybe it is still in the mango tree with your other spy stuff, Brad?"

Sure enough, it was more than 10 feet up in the tree. I had to lift Ami up there and she was able to get it down. Both yesterday and today we have been at school before 7:00 AM. Ami has been a super help! She is my "go-to girl." She is only 7 but she seems to know where everything in the house is and how it all works (she even knows the mango tree well). She can bathe Alli, help Brad with piano lessons, and helps out pretty much everywhere - usually with a great attitude! What a sweetie! But have I mentioned that it is only 7 more days until Anita gets back?

Day One

So this is Anita's blog, but I (Brian) am doing double duty while Anita is in the U.S. so I thought I would try to keep up with her blog a bit while she is away. Today (Monday) was the first day without Anita. We dropped her off yesterday at Kamuzu International Airport at about noon so that she could finally take her oath in California and become a U.S. Citizen. We have been applying for this for several years, and are glad it is finally happening. Unfortunately for us who are left behind it means 9 days without her. Day one got off to an early start with ALL four kids up by 5:45 AM. But how bad can your day be when you wake up to a smile like Alli's?